The Elizabethtown City Council met for their first meeting of the month Monday.
The first reading was held on an ordinance that would prohibit the operation of all medicinal cannabis facilities in the city. State law legalizing medical cannabis goes on the books July 1, so cities and counties are making decisions on whether to opt into or out of the state law. The ordinance does not prohibit the legal use of medical marijuana by cardholders, but it does prohibit the five types of businesses that are regulated by state law.
“Cultivators, processors, producers, compliance businesses, and dispensaries,” said City Attorney Ken Howard. “Now typically what most people are interested in is dispensaries, where can you go and buy.”
The law allows for 48 total dispensary licenses statewide, with no more than four in each of 11 established regions. No county may have more than one of the four district dispensaries, and a lottery is held if there are multiple applications.
Other restrictions exist for the other business types. Several members of the council were not comfortable taking action on the ordinance until they could learn more about the other regulations since state law appears to require approval of all or none. Council Member Julia Springsteen said she is against banning the facilities because of the heavy regulation state law provides for acquiring a medical cannabis card and for businesses.
“There’s a board of eight doctors and two nurses that govern the whole thing,” Springsteen said. “It can’t be near schools, it can’t be advertised that well, and the bottom line is this was passed because sick people need this and it’s proven to help sick people.”
Elizabethtown Mayor Jeff Gregory said the restrictions in the law also satisfy some of his concerns.
“If it treats people that have terminal cancer or epilepsy and makes their life a little bit better for what they have here, then I’m all for it, but if it was going to be available to be on every corner of the city I was out, but with the restriction that it could, possibly, only be one place softens my stance somewhat,” Gregory said.
The council tabled the ordinance in order to get more information on questions they had. The ordinance can be found on the city website.
In other meeting news, the first reading was held on the city’s 2024-2025 budget. The total budget comes in at $149.9 million with $119.7 million in expenditures.
The Elizabethtown City Council will next meet for a work session on June 10.
